What Exactly Could The Nigerian Personality Mean?

An America based consultant on matters of leadership, management, and psychology, Dr. Ozodi Osuji recently postulated that many Nigerians have Antisocial Personality Disorder?

In other words, antisocial personality disorder which is best understood within the context of clinical and diagnostic categories as an enduring pattern of personal experiences and behaviors marked with disregard for and violation of the rights of others, harmful thinking, chronic pathological lying and manipulation for personal gain; characterizes the lives of many Nigerians at home.

While this writer will not raise any form of specificity in terms personality disorders about Nigerians living across the 36 States of Nigeria, as such move would require clinical diagnosis on an individual basis.

But on a historic or conceptual level what appears to be chiefly present in many Nigerians at home is a wrong within the conscience. The typical Nigerian personality, at least observantly, suffers from impoverished moral sense or conscience, broadly enjoys not conforming to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors, love conning others for personal return or pleasure, recklessly disregard the suffering of others, nonfamily members especially, consistently and repeatedly have no remorse for hurting anyone and buys into mistreating everyone through acts of venality and deceitfulness.

Notably, it is fully possible that there are godly thinking Nigerians at home yet to be marked with the apparent characterizations of the Nigerian style of personality. The Nigerian Personality Style appears drawn to callous unconcern for the feelings of others especially workers and non-relatives have very high tolerance to acts of corruption, and a low threshold for discharge of dishonesty including vengeance.

The Nigerian Personality style makes a typical and many Nigerians always in readiness to blame others or to offer peculiar rationalizations for their ill behaviors which have brought the individual into conflict with society.

The Nigerian Personality style typifies acts of dysfunctional religiosity, remains markedly clannish, overly defensive, abundantly sentimental, and situationally confused. The Nigerian style of personality in terms of relationship to national matters, fosters institutional sclerosis, is indifferent to sustainable infrastructure, and stands out as central to damp or lifeless bureaucracy.

The typical Nigerian personality is open to a burning desire to view a white human being as fully positive in nature and precious in appearance followed by a sense of negativity to his or her own blackness.

The Nigerian style of personality appears to feature heavily among the unreliable statistics of 170 million people, marked with unhealthy greed, and the need to protect one’s status quo at all cost. The Nigerian style of personality is deeply drawn to high value for education yet it is oiled with enduring mindset for corruption and crushing income inequality.The Nigerian style of personality appears formed within, between and around religious violence, dire health concerns, devastating poverty, ailing institutions, and death-designed roads; yet this style of personality appears happy both in mood and spirit.

The Nigerian style of personality appeared formed easily in children by parents who show a display of morally and socially damaged behaviors openly or misleadingly. The Nigerian style of personality like most personality styles or ways; are difficult to change resulting in such acts like dishonesty, manipulation, exploitation, and abusiveness which remain seductively charming and admired at all times.

Genetically, or even environmentally, there is no known objective or scientific definition of the Nigerian style of personality at this time, as such extensive clinical investigation is needed in the future, nevertheless, on the basis of psychoafricalytic outlook the noted acts and attitudes about the Nigerian personality style seem to show everywhere across Nigeria.

Certainly, there are no medications or psychotherapies that exist that could alleviate what appears to be Nigerian style of personality and its conditions; as such it is reasoned here that a hyper-positive change in our beings, towards others and our institutions is all that is needed marked with thoughts and feelings of nation building and progress in our spirit at all times.

Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi is a Florida based Forensic/Clinical and National Psychologist, and a former Secretary-General of the Nigeria Psychological Association. [email protected] , drjohneoshodi.com

Disclaimer: "The views/contents expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D. and do not necessarily reflect those of The Nigerian Voice. The Nigerian Voice will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article."